Is It Art Or Theft?

Jon Routson creates his art by going to his local multiplex, hauling out a handheld video camera, and taping a bootleg version of the latest Hollywood blockbuster. He then shows the distorted films, complete with audience coughs and shaking camera, at art galleries as his own work. He does not sell his works, thus avoiding charges of piracy, but his days as a video artist may be numbered, nonetheless. The act of appropriating pieces of another’s work is always a touchy subject in the art world, but Routson’s particular method is illegal in five states, and is about to become illegal in his home state, as well.